Trade association UK Pet Food looked into the future of food production and sustainability at its 2023 annual convention in London last week.
Under the theme of ‘Our World and Our Pets’, manufacturers and industry leaders considered the weighty subject of the future of food production, and particularly the use of livestock farming to produce meat, through a number of presentations.
Entrepreneur and food campaigner Henry Dimbleby, author of the government-commissioned National Food Strategy, explained how land use and current farming practices will come under increasing scrutiny by legislators and the general public, putting increasing pressure on inputs to the pet food industry.
Land used for food production, he said, “has come to dominate the environment” and is the major cause of deforestation, water pollution and biodiversity collapse, and is also the second biggest cause of global warming after energy generation.
He added that three quarters of UK land is now given over to raise animals or to grow animal feed, yet around 20% of this land produces just 3% of UK calorie intake.
This land would be better used for carbon capture and to promote biodiversity, he argued, but food production would have to become less wasteful in order to achieve this by halting low-yield farming, throwing less food away, and by consumers eating less meat.
Owen Ensor, chief executive of cultivated meat start-up Meatly, gave an introduction into how this new form of protein could make a transformational difference to pet food production. Meatly is aiming to be the first company to sell cultivated meat specifically for pet food, making a saving on land, water, and without the need for antibiotics.
Since 2000, the pet food sector has grown by 53% but meat production has only increased by 19%, he revealed, meaning that meat prices were both rising and volatile. And with consumers increasingly focused on sustainability, reduced human demand for meat will have knock-on effects to the pet food industry as animal by-products will become less available.
“Getting enough meat for pet food is going to be an issue,” Ensor said, adding that this should be viewed not as a threat but as an opportunity to develop alternative sources of protein.
On such source could be cultivated meat, which is produced by growing animal cells outside of animals’ bodies. Starting with a single cell, such as from the egg of a chicken, and boosted by the addition of nutrients under sterile laboratory conditions, a potentially infinite amount of meat can be cultivated, captured and transported to manufacturing sites to be used as an ingredient for pet food. The output is sustainable, nutritious and ethical, argued Ensor, but the key test will be whether it is also scaleable. However, there has been a huge recent increase in capital investment into the alternative protein industry, he added, giving hope that scale will increase and prices will come down in the future.
Policy adviser and prospective parliamentary candidate Marisa Heath gave delegates a view of the potential impact of the next election on the pet industry.
With Labour currently holding only 17 rural seats in Parliament, she predicted that the party will be seeking to win over farmers and farming communities with commitments to support British food, while an increasingly organised citizen voice will make animal welfare and sustainability key issues for politicians to tackle.
She said: “Billions of animals are currently slaughtered for no good reason due to food waste. Pet food is a zero waste industry, so it is really important to contribute to the debate.”
Heath added that the pet food industry could benefit by supporting the call for a Common Veterinary Agreement, to keep up to date with alternative protein sources and to retain animal welfare as a high priority.
